Day 9 of the Campaign

Posted by Elizabeth May950sc on August 18, 2015

Elizabeth May

August 11, 2015

(OTTAWA) - Campaigning in the spectacular West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding – with events in Lions Bay, West Vancouver and Squamish. Momentum is building for Ken Melamed, Green candidate and former mayor of Whistler. What was supposed to be a small addition to the day - a coffee party at the home of supporters who offered to billet us – turned into a breakfast at a community hall. Word of mouth and friends told friends, and John and Rose Dudley realized there would be too many people for their home, so we ended up with over 120 people at the hall.

While campaigning, the confusion around debates swirled. With Mulcair’s new conditions including that he would not be in debates if Harper wasn’t there, nor if all leaders were not invited, I had increasingly expected no further English language debates, as none of them met both criteria. Then late in the day, Mulcair confirmed participating in the Munk Debate, and Munk confirmed it had no intention of inviting two of the five national leaders (Green or Bloc). Within minutes, more news – Trudeau will not participate in Munk unless it invites the Green Party.

Last bit of news for the day, the broadcasters have obtained commitments for the Radio Canada debate in French for all five leaders – in Montreal for September 24. But so far, the English language CBC and national broadcasters debate remains in limbo.